Best is yet to come from ‘elite offensive player’ Lind
If Elias Pettersson is really going to save the Canucks offence, he’s going to need help.
Lots of it.
Enter Kole Lind, the forward who was at the centre of one of the Canucks most memorable moments at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
In a mic’d-up clip segment from that draft produced by the team, Vancouver GM Jim Benning is shown wondering this at the end of the first round: “Why isn’t anyone taking Kole Lind?”
Benning would help take care of that early in the second round when the Canucks took the high upside winger because, in part, the organization thought he could help Pettersson.
“He’s proven he can score and he’s a smart hockey player,” said Judd Brackett, the Canucks director of amateur scouting.
“Part of the draw at the draft was that his hockey sense was on a level that we thought he’d be able to play with other high end players, someone like a Pettersson. “He had terrific year.”
He did, but it was a trying one too. Lind’s season was disrupted by a couple things out of his control.
One was a case of mononucleosis and the other was the disappointment of not making Team Canada’s World junior team.
How smoothly he overcame both setbacks was impressive.
“Mono really just doesn’t affect the physical side of things, there’s a mental side too, and he had obviously put in a lot of work during the summer which helped him battle through it,” said Jason Smith, the head coach of Lind’s Kelowna Rockets.
“His fitness level from the day he was drafted was a sign of maturity and growth and it really helped him when he got sick.
“He missed a stretch but it didn’t drag on. He came back and he was right back into it.”
The time he was out didn’t impact his season at all.
But Lind’s signature moment this year came after he was cut from Team Canada in what was his last chance to play in the World Juniors tournament. In his first three games back with Kelowna, he exploded with eight points.
“He handled that with character and with confidence and pride,” Smith said.
“He took it as this, if you’re getting an opportunity to get invited to that camp, you’re doing lots of good things.
“Sure, it’s a kick in the butt when you don’t make it but he wanted to get right back, get back on the horse and play and it was awesome for our group.”
In Lind, Smith sees a player with a lot of offensive talent and suggests the Canucks did well to get that kind of player in the second round.
“He’s an elite offensive player and he has huge upside to his game,” Smith said. “His game is still growing and I don’t think it’s anywhere near to where it’s going to get to.
“I can’t really speak for the (Canucks), but it was probably great for them. They got a great piece, a player who is still growing and getting better.”
Smith underscored a couple of skills Lind has which suggest that the Canucks were on to something when they saw a young man who could play with Pettersson down the road.
“He has vision and poise with the puck. His ability to pass the puck and shoot the puck are at a very high level at a young age. The guys who can handle the puck like he can without staring down at the ice all the time have a lot of opportunity to have success with the pace of the game now,” Smith said.
“If you can see the play develop before anyone else can, you have a pretty good chance to complete the play. He has that ability. He sees the ice really well.
“He can also shoot the puck from numerous positions on the ice and he can do it when he’s moving at full speed and it doesn’t matter if he’s off the front foot or back foot or side foot.”